Hairbrush



y 21, 1953 o. R. SEIDNER 2,645,801 I HAIRBRUSH Filed Nov. 12, 1949 INVENTOR Patented July 21, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I HAIRBRUSH Orville It. Seidner, Alhambra, Calif.

Application November 12, 1949, Serial No. 126,903

The present invention relates to brushes in general and particularly to brushes designed for the brushing of long hair. More specifically the invention comprises a brush which is so constructed as to be peculiarly effective in the brushing of long human hair, currently very popular with American women, and which is designed to insure the penetration of the bristles into the long tresses of the hair.

The beauty and the health of the human hair is materially improved by brushing. Brushing enhances the lustre and the sheen of the hair and improves the health of the scalp which is enabled to breathe more freely with dead tissues removed.

One of the problems in the brushing of long hair is to insure adequate bristle penetration. It is not sufiicient that the bristles penetrate between those hairs near the outside of a tress of hair. Instead it is important that it penetrate the entire tress and contact each individual hair. As a brush is provided with a multiplicity of bristles and as a tress of hair is composed of many hairs,

2 Claims. (Cl. -443) .2 shoulder by which the brush gularly with respect to its direction of movement to enable it better to penetrate the tress of hair.

in accordance with the present invention;

the ability of the brush to penetrate the tress is usually relatively limited and manyof the hairs which are buried in the tress and spaced from the brush body receive little or no brushing. It has been observed that if the brush is tilted during the brushing stroke so that the face of the brush advances angularly, that is, so that the bristle back is inclined at an angle to the direction of brush movement, the ability of the bristles to penetrate the mass of hair is greatly increased and the brushing action is improved. The ordinary brush, whether it be of the flat military type or of the type provided with a handle at one end, tends to tilt in the wrong direction as it is moved through the hair and is not so designed as to enable the user easily to hold it at the proper angle. The brush constructed in accordance with an improved hair brush particularly adapted for the brushing of long hair.

It is another object of the invention to provide a new and improved hairbrush incorporating means upon which a tilting force can be applied in the brushing operation.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a brush incorporating a laterally extending illustrated in Figure 1,

Figure 2 is a top elevation'of the construction Figures 3 and 4 illustrate suggested methods of using my brush; and

Figure 5 is an end view of a modification of my brush together with a suggested 'method of using it.

Referring again to Figures 1 and 2, a. brush constructed inaccordance with a .preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated and is seen to comprise a rigid back I0 from one side of which extend tufts of brush bristles II. ,The brush back I0 is illustrated as'being substantially rectangular in s'hape with rounded corners but it is to be understood that it can as well have any common section. The tufts of bristles I I extend from one side of the back in a common and well known manner and are suitably secured as by stapling or through being molded in place. Back I 0 may be of wood,plastic or other suitablematerial, and the bristles Il may be of suitable fibre. or plastic acceptable for the brushing of "human hair.

To the back I0 is secured a plate I2 having two parallel sides I 3 secured as by'screws I4 to the sides of the brush back I0 and'formed with a laterally extending shelf I5 at one side of the brush back I0 and substantially in the plane of the lower face thereof. Plate I2 has a height and. width above theback I0 sufficient as to enable at least two fingers to be inserted thereunder, and the shelf I5 is itself adapted to be contacted by a finger, preferably the forefinger or middle finger to provide a surface upon which a downward force may be exerted to effect the tilting of the brush in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figure 1. It is to be understood that the plate I2 shown is only illustrative and thatit instead may be formed of several plates or straps; also that the shelf or shoulder I5 need not be integral with the .plate.

In the use of the brush, as illustrated in Figure 3, the ring and little fingers 4 and 5, respectively, are inserted between the strap I2 and'the brush canbe tilted an- I 3 back I0. The middle finger 3 rests on the shelf I 5, while the forefinger 2 is positioned so as to guide a tress of hair 2|] between the forefinger and the shelf I5, thereby preventing the hairs from slipping out of the bristles during the brush- 5 ing stroke. The thumb I is shown as guiding the tress 20 into the bristles of the brush so that when the brush is moved in the general direction of the arrow 2| and the middle finger 3 exerts a tilting action in a clockwise direction, substantially every 1 hair in the tress is readily guided into and through the bristles I I, thereby obtaining the beneficial effect referred to hereinabove.

Figure 4 illustrates another method of using the brush by inserting the middle and ring fingers 1 3 and 4 between the stra I2 and brush back I0. The forefinger 2 rests on the shelf I5 and the thumb I guides the tress 20 between the thumb and the shelf I5. In this method the little finger 5 is positioned so as to guide the tress 20 into the 2 brush bristles I I at the side of the brush opposite the shelf I5.

Figure 5 illustrates a modification wherein my brush comprises a rigid back I0 from one s de of which extend the brush bristles II. To the 2 back I0 is secured a plate I2 having laterally extending shelves I5 and 25. Other than for the shelf 25 this modification is similar in all other respects to that depicted by Figures 1-4. As shown, the middle and ring fingers 3 and 4 3 are inserted between the strap I2"and brush back III, while the little finger 5 rests on the shelf 25 and the forefinger 2 rests on the shelf I5. The thumb I guides the tress of hair 20' into the bristles.

This modification has the additional advantage that the brush may be used for both forehanded and backhanded brushing. In the first instant (as depicted in Figure 5) the thumb I guides the tress of hair into the bristles so that it leaves the brush bristles at a point adjacent the shelf I 5 while the forefinger 2 exerts a clockwise tilting action to the brush to obtain the advantages of angularly advancing the brush into the tress. In

the backhanded motion necessary-for brushing 4 the hair backwardly from the scalp the thumb I guides the tress of hair into the bristles so that it leaves the brush bristles at a point adjacent the shelf 25 while the little finger 5' exerts a counter-clockwise tilting action to the brush.

It is thus apparent that the novel construction of the brush permits the user to so manipulate the brush during a brush stroke so as to cause each and every hair in a tress to be guided into the brush bristles at the scalp and to be guided therethrough during the entire stroke to the end of the hairs. In effect the brush bristles tend to dig into the tress of hair and so penetrate more deeply than is the case with the usual brush construction.

While the particular apparatus herein shown and described in detail is fully capable of attaining the objects and providing the advantages hereinbefore stated, it is to be understood that it is merely illustrative of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention and that no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown other than as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A brush comprising a back member and a plurality of bristles extending from one surface thereof, a strap member arched across the opposite surface, at least one shoulder extending laterally of said back member of a width and disposed so as to accommodate an operators finger substantially in the plane of said back member, said strap being arched in a plane transversely of the shoulder so that one or more fingers of the operator passing below said strap and pressing on said oppositesurface of said back member are substantially parallel to one finger of the operator resting on said shoulder, whereby said brush may be carried by said one or more fingers and rotated thereabout by said one finger exerting pressure on said shoulder so as to vary and maintain the angle at which said bristles engage a tress of hair on one side thereof, the length of said bristles being such that one or more fingers of th operator may be disposed on the opposite side of said tress as a support therefor when said bristles are run therethrough.

2. A brush as set forth in claim 1, wherein said strap and said shoulder comprise an integral piece of sheet material bent and formed so as to conform to the size of said back member, said shoulder being disposed below said opposite surface of said back member.

ORVILLE R. SEIDNER.

- References Cited in the file of this atent" UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 454,521 Gufiin et a1 June 23, 1891 583,098 Thomas May 25, 1897 1,200,089 Dooley Oct. 3, 1916 1,378,931 Adler May 24, 1921 1,723,520 Pintel Aug. 6, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 13,780 Great Britain June 11, 1909 

